Voices
by Cheese1
Summary: TWOSHOT! Her voice could guide me through anything... First person, Booth. His voice is my lifeline... First person, Brennan.
1. Chapter 1

Hi again everybody. Another idea for a short story struck and as always I had to get it out of my system to be able to THINK of writing anything else. I know I have a few other stories screaming for updates, but life is just crazy and if I don't write what's bugging me to get written I can't write anything at all. Please understand!

I hope you'll like it. If not, lie (just kidding).

This will consist of two chapters!

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Her voice

PART 1

I hear her voice. I always liked her voice…a little throaty as if she'd done something exiting all night long. And still, it sounds also smooth and silky and definitely not unpleasant. As I said, I always liked the sound of her voice.

Right now, however, it sounds different than usual. Definitely not as detached and lecturing as it sounded when she was explaining things in her scientific geek-speek. Which is pretty sexy sometimes. Well, not when she's talking about the different stages of decomposition or things like that. NOBODY can make that sound appealing, not even her. But she comes as close as anyone can get.

Back to topic, I tell myself. Focus, man. I hear her voice, but I can't see her. That can't be good, right? Come to think of it, I can't see anything. That isn't exactly encouraging either. Her voice still invades my foggy brain, so it's not that bad. Bones is here…. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad when she's here.

She sounds frightened somehow, worried even. I try to make my clumsy, foggy, nearly useless brain comprehend what she's saying, but it's not easy. Is she yelling at me? Maybe she's angry. But suddenly....."Please open your eyes, wake up." I hear. Please? Open your eyes?

Well, that explains a lot, I analyse. My eyes are closed, that's why everything is black. That's why I can hear her, but not see her. I try, try to push my eyes open. The effort nearly sends me back into the total blackness, the total dark from where I had emerged earlier. But I can do it. Have to. It nearly sucks all my strength out of me, but finally, finally I manage to blink my eyes open. Once, twice. It's too bright for me to make anything out, too bright to see her face, but I can identify a figure looming over me. It's got to be her. Her voice is unmistakeable.

"Booth." She says and I hear something odd in her voice. She sounds….somehow frightened and her voice is so different… almost as if she had been crying. Worried, right. I had thought of it before, but my brain is not working right.

I blink once more and the world around me gains details, slowly, but it does. It's still bright, but I manage to focus on her face. It takes half an eternity for me to register that her eyes are swollen, her make-up is ruined and her complexion is too pale to be healthy. Worry floods me. Something is wrong with her, I have to fix it, I tell myself. I struggle to say something, but my throat is on fire… and filled with …something. I almost gag.

"Sh." She makes, her blue eyes fixed on mine. "Stay still. Calm down, Booth. You're intubated."

I blink again. She looks shaken and I want to ask her what happened, but I can't say anything. The sheer thought of trying to speak to her exhausts me, but I want to try. Unfortunately my throat, my mouth won't comply. What had she said? Why can't I talk?

"Don't try to talk, Booth. There is a tube in your mouth to help you breathe." She explains gently and finally, finally I understand. Something had happened to ME.

Hospital, I think.

I stare at her, it's all I can do. I don't remember what happened, I don't remember anything except her voice. Somehow her voice had been there all the time.

"We were in an accident … kind of." She says. I try to remember, but no pictures emerge, no foggy memories. Nothing. Just blackness. Then her words register in and a tremor shakes my body. I hadn't noticed the beeping sounds near my head until the they start to speed up and threaten to blur together into a cacophony. "Calm down, please, please, Booth." She says. She pleads. What else can I do, but obey? She never pleads, so it really gets to me.

But still, the reason for my panic is there, lingering. Is she hurt, too?

I search her eyes, try to make her understand what's unsettling me, but she stares at the beeping machines located somewhere behind me. "That's better." She remarks after a pause and her gaze connects with mine again. Are you alright, I try to ask her, but of course, I can't. I can't talk and she's not a mind reader.

"I was worried." She admits and I just stare. Had she ever said that before? I can't remember, but I don't think so. Well, I'm worried too. Sure, she is sitting by my bed so she obviously is in better condition than me, but still. I worry about her, that's what I do, have been doing for years now. I'm so used to it, it has become second nature. Like breathing, it happens naturally. Well, at the moment breathing happens less naturally than worrying about her safety, apparently. Or why else was there a tube stuffed into my throat?

"Why do things like that keep on happening?" She murmurs, more to herself than to me, I guess. I stare at her and blink rapidly. I don't know what happened, I want to tell her. Tell me if you're alright, Bones.

"You don't remember, I guess." Bones sighs and I try to nod. Even the tiny, tiny movement I manage exhausts me. But I'm not in pain, at least. Most likely, they were giving me enough pain killers to sedate a bear. The stuffy, foggy feeling in my head usually comes along with pain killers. I had the chance to experience that a few times in my life. I hate it.

"Don't move. You could hurt yourself. I mean… hurt yourself worse than you already are." She says urgently and I see tears in her eyes. I don't want them there. She shouldn't be crying. I want to hug her and tell her that everything will be alright, but first I'm not able to do anything and second, I have no idea if I would be lying.

And I don't lie to Bones, period.

I briefly close my eyes and try to sense anything, try to find myself in all that fog and chaos that is my brain. I feel something…. and move my fingers. Or at least that's what I aim for. An instant later I feel warmth surround my fingers, her hand enveloping mine. Her hands are warmer than mine, which is a novum. Like most women she tends to have colder hands than me. But of course I'm the one lying in bed, obviously injured.

"Don't move. I'm going to tell you what happened, okay? Just… blink once if that's alright." She says and I blink obediently.

And she starts to talk, her voice so serious, so sad. She tells me that we had been investigating in an old factory. And obviously somebody had not been happy with us being there and had started one of the old machines to compress dump …. We had been trapped. That sounds so James-Bond-ish… or right out of Star Wars, I want to laugh out loud. I can't but I manage a snort. She just gives me a long look. "And then you told me to stand on your shoulders and I managed to reach the upper end of the press. I got out, but I couldn't help you out.... and then searched for the mechanism to shut it off, but I couldn't stop the machine in time." There are tears in her eyes now. "You nearly died."

I blink. Hey, I'm alive. More important though is, that SHE is alive. Unharmed, from the looks of it. That matters, nothing else.

"Metal got pressed into your abdomen, your right humerus is fractured, your shoulder was dislocated. A piece of metal cut into your left thigh and missed the femoral artery by half an inch, Booth. HALF AN INCH." She sounds agitated and there definitely are tears in her eyes. And in her voice. I try to grip her hand tighter with mine, but I'm not sure if I manage. The pain killers make me feel as if I am wrapped in cotton wool, my senses aren't at their best. She takes in a deep breath and stares down at our intertwined hands. Or at least that's what I think she's looking at. Since I'm not able to move, I can't follow her stare.

When her gaze rises again, meets mine, I see tears streaming down her face. "I thought you were dead. There was so much blood, Booth. It… looked as if… somebody had gotten slaughtered."

Her words surprise me. Usually she was detached, able to describe crime scenes clinically. She sure as hell had never used the word slaughtered like that before. At least I can't remember.

"Twenty minutes to the hospital, you flat lined twice. Then nine hours of surgery. They told me to be prepared for the worst." She says. No she sobs. She's crying violently now and I ache to make it better. All I can do is hold her hand, try to squeeze it gently.

"They had to remove your spleen. About thirty stitches on your stomach." She whispers. "Twelve stitches on your leg. The muscle is damaged."

Makes…forty-two brand new stitches. Which ups my count to…. somewhere close to eighty. Wow. Plus a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder…. I am in for a world of pain, if not for the pain killers… Okay, I take the stuffy head and loss of memory, thank you very much.

"Two cracked ribs, too." She suddenly says and I add them to my count. Cracked ribs are painful, but not that bad. I would know, I had cracked them before. Once or twice. Or so.

"I thought I lost you again." She whispers, more to herself than to me, I think. And why 'again'? I wonder for a moment, but then I remember the time when I had had to fake my death. She had presumed me dead, although I had wanted her to know the truth.

"You'll recover. It will take time and you might have to take medication from now on, because of the missing spleen, but you will recover." She stares down at me, her cheek wet with tears, but she is not crying anymore now.

What she says sounds reasonable. I plan on recovering, naturally. What else?

"You promised me. Do it again" Bones whispers.

I'm puzzled. What should I promise? And how? I'm not exactly in the condition to make vows. Intubated, hello? I would probably promise ANYthing to her, but how? I blink at her and obviously she sees the confusion in my eyes.

"Right after I stopped the machine you were still conscious for a few minutes. You promised not to leave me." She explains, naked pain in her eyes.

Oh. I don't remember that, but it sounds good. I don't want to leave her. So, I'm willing to promise. I squeeze her hand again. I promise not to leave you, Bones.

"They say that this night might still be crucial. You had internal bleeding and they are not absolutely sure they fixed it all. But you have to…. you have to…" She pauses and stares at me. "You promised not to leave me and I hold you to it. Clear?"

I blink once. Very clear, Bones. I wouldn't want to leave you, ever.

"It was so hard without you." She confesses in a low murmur. "And Parker needs his father. So you better recover real soon." It sounds almost like an order.

I squeeze her hand again, but I feel that it's weaker than before. I'm weaker....getting tired. No, I've been tired before. Exhausted is the word. I look at her, at her swollen eyes, the worry in them and I want to tell her that I couldn't leave anyway. No way. Without her, nothing makes sense. I can't tell her, though, due to the tube in my mouth… and the bone-deep fatigue that wears me down and forces my eyes closed.

"If you leave me, I'm never going to forgive you." I hear her voice and if I could, I would have chuckled. This way my Bones.

"You can't make me depend on you and then take it away. It's not fair." She adds.

My eyes are closed and I'm nearly asleep, but I can still hear her voice. "I love you, Booth. Don't leave me. "

I won't.

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Please let me know what you think!!! PART 2 will be up soon. Reviews would be awesome.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, people thank you so much, soooooo much for your wonderful reviews. So glad you liked the first part.

Usually I would answer every single review personally – I hope most of you people know that – but since I was not able to log in for some time now and you folks have been busy (THANK YOU), I'm not sure if I will be able to answer all of them. I'll try anyway.

Here we are with part 2

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Part 2

His voice

Fatigue. That's the word I would use to describe how I feel. Exhaustion. Everything is black around me. I must have fallen unconscious and I'm not quite sure I'm ready to resurface yet.

I feel somehow limp, oddly detached from my own body. I'd like to muster up some kind of interest towards my condition, but I don't have it in me at the moment. All I can do is cling to the only thing I'm able to hear.

His voice. Booth. Who else?

He's always there when I need him, just like I want to be there for him. It's what we do. I hear his voice talking to me, but I can't make out any details. It's just as well. I don't need details. Knowing he is here makes it okay. He is going to make sure nothing happens to me. Despite all the logical objections against it, I have faith in him. Who else should I believe in?

Tremors wreck my body, but I'm in a hazy, numb state and I don't really feel anything. "Come on, Bones, you can do it. Stay awake." He urges me. I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do. I'm drifting.

"Just a few more minutes." He says, his voice gruff. "Then it's done." I have no idea what he is talking about. Feeling comes back to me and a little awareness. I'm in pain, I analyse… it's a very distant realisation, just as if whatever is happening has nothing to do with me. And I'm exhausted.

I hear other people murmur and an odd scraping sound, the screech of metal against metal, but it's his voice I cling to. Pain invades me again and I want to go back to the moment when I had felt nothing, nothing at all. But Booth is here, Booth is talking to me. "Please Bones, stay with me."

I should be able to do that, I remind myself. But there is pain and there is cold. "Please." Booth says. His voice is hoarse, raw… he sounds as if in pain himself, too. That startles me a little and makes me more aware.

I don't want him to hurt. I just can't bear it. It always brings back memories of the time I had not been able to stop that press in time nearly two years ago and it had taken nine miserable hours of surgery to ensure he would survive. I had told him I loved him back then, but he had been on medication, barely conscious and hadn't remembered. Which is just as well…. We're partners. Friends. Deeper feelings just complicate matters. And make it easier to get hurt.

Weeks and weeks of recovery. It had taken him so long to come back to what he had been before. And now he's in some sort of pain again. I don't want that. I cant stand the mere thought of it.

"Come on, Bones…. You're stronger than that." Booth says. His voice somehow gives me strength. Which is not logical, but still…

I try to open my eyes, but there seems to be some kind of weight wearing down on them…. After what seems an eternity I manage to blink them open. It takes me some time to make out anything, but Booth's worried face soon comes into focus. There is a small wound on his cheek with blood oozing from it and I wince. The memories of how he had looked two years ago, bleeding from several wounds resurface and I push away the fatigue and the pain and concentrate on him. "Booth." I rasp. My own voice sounds raw. "You're bleeding." I manage to force out, then my throat closes and a wave of pain envelops me.

"God, Bones." He lets out a strangled sigh… almost a sob. "I'm good. You're the one who's hurt." He says he is okay, but he sounds as if he is in pain. That is puzzling. I blink as the pain subsides a little. Another face comes into view. "You want to ride with her?" The strange man says and I see Booth nod.

"Ride?" I choke out.

"Ambulance." Booth explains. "You need to go to the hospital."

I blink. "What?..." I cough a little. My ribcage hurts and I instantly know that they are a few ribs bruised, probably broken. The pain overwhelms me for an instant and I close my eyes and my thoughts start to drift.

"Why you and not me?" The sound Booth's voice brings me back to a state of half-awareness.

"What?" I force out. I'm not sure if there actually is a sound escaping me, but he still seems to understand.

"God, I can't stand to see you hurt." His voice sounds…. anguished. I blink my eyes open and search his eyes.

"You don't remember." He says and I agree. But I'm not able to reply. He must be able to see it in my face, though, as he instantly starts to explain. "We were in an accident. Sort of."

I remember that I had said exactly the same thing to him two years ago. I think I manage a small smile.

"Somebody tried to kill us, Bones. Rammed our car and ran us off the road." He sounds gruff. "How come you manage to get into these kind of accidents frequently, huh?"

Only for a brief moment I wonder what he is talking about, then memories of him and me nearly getting blown up during the Gormogon-case and of Sweets and me being run off the road come back. It's been years, it is NOT my fault these accidents happened and I want to tell him as much. But I'm just not able to say anything.

I feel myself being lifted and for a moment, panic envelops me. "It's okay, Bones. We're going on our trip to the hospital now." His soothing voice calms me instantly. He's here, he'll make sure I'll be alright.

He sits beside me in the ambulance, holding my hand. "Your side of the car was badly damaged, they had to cut you out. I…" He clears his throat. His voice sounds odd when he continues. "I tried to get you out, but I couldn't free your leg. I didn't want to hurt you more than you already were, so they had to cut open the car."

I contemplate the information for a moment. Either the paramedics had given me something for the pain or I'm getting used to it by now. My brain functions a little better now and I'm able to process real thoughts.

"Bad?" I ask and Booth's brown eyes are holding mine. "You're alive, Bones. That's all that counts right now." He sounds sincere and the emotion in his voice almost brings tears to my eyes…but I need to know about my leg.

"Leg." I croak and he sighs. "I don't know, Bones. I'm not a doctor."

"It doesn't look that bad." A strange voice says. A paramedic, I assume. Relief floods me and with the relief comes fatigue. Again. I have to close my eyes soon and I need him to tell me he wont' go. "Stay." I force out. It sounds weaker than I had anticipated.

"I'm not going to leave you, Bones. Not now, not ever." Booth says. The exact words I wanted, needed to hear.

Darkness claims me and all sound fades away. Except his voice. My subconscious seems to repeat the words he had said. Or maybe he repeats them. I don't know. I just know that I hear it over and over again. "I'm not going to leave you, Bones."

When I blink my eyes open again, the light around me is too bright to make out anything, it's blinding me. But I wake up to the sound of his voice. "Bones…. Open your eyes, please." I had heard that the instant before opening them and now I slowly managed to focus them. Booth is looming over me.

His hand is holding mine and it's warm. Comforting. "Do you remember what happened?" He asks gently and memories invade my mind. Accident, him talking to me, ambulance. My leg! "Leg." I croak. The very moment I realise I can speak I know everything will be okay. If I had had major surgery, like amputation, I would be intubated.

"Broken. And bruised. A few lacerations. Your ribs are bruised too. Mild concussion." He says and swallows hard. "You scared the shit out of me. But they say you'll be okay."

I study his face, effectively holding my fatigue at bay for the moment. He looks tired, too. The cut on his cheek has been treated. "You hurt?" I ask. My throat feels raw.

"No, Bones. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing to worry about. You're the one lying in the hospital bed this time." His voice is gentle, but there is something in it I can't quite place.

"Water?" I croak. He nods, reaches for something at the periphery of my vision. His hand comes back with a cup of water and a straw in it. He helps me take a few sips. My bruised ribs ache, but we manage.

Suddenly he reaches out and touches my cheek and I freeze. What is he doing? His voice is rough, husky as he says. "I didn't leave you, just so you know. I've been here all the time. I had to threaten the doctors with my gun."

I doubt that, but I appreciate his attempt at humour. I try to smile at him, but he doesn't smile back. His eyes are serious. "You scared me. Bad." He whispers.

"Two years ago it was me lying in the hospital bed, waking up after surgery. And it's been your voice that helped me through all that shit. Helped me come back. I heard you, Bones." He says, his dark eyes focussing on me.

"I heard all of it and I remember." He adds and my breath catches. "You never said it again. You never said anything about that day again. You helped me through recovery, helped me get back into my job, but you never once mentioned the day I woke up after surgery."

I swallow hard, my chest aching. If it's the bruised ribs causing the pain, I can't say. I take the coward's way out and close my eyes. I remember the day he woke up two years ago. Clearly.

Booth's voice invades my thoughts. "Did I prove that I won't leave you?"

"Yes." I answer honestly. He had proven that, again and again. I don't dare to open my eyes, don't dare to meet his gaze.

"Then why are you afraid?" He asks softly. "I won't ever leave you, Bones. I'll always be there for you. Look at me. Please."

I bite my bottom lip, contemplating for a moment to just pretend falling asleep, but that would be really cowardly and irrational. And it would only postpone this conversation. Booth was persistent, that much I know.

After a short pause, I open my eyes. He is staring down at me, so many emotions visible in his eyes I can not even begin to try to decipher them.

"I'm not going to leave you, not if I can help it. You do know that, right?" His voice, his gaze all of it is so intense it takes my breath away.

"Yes." I answer. It is the only logical answer. There is not a hint of doubt in me that Booth will always do his best to be there for me.

"I want you safe and I want you happy, Bones." He says. "And I want you in my life… I so want to make you happy."

My heart beat speeds up as I watch him, as I listen to him. I had known he cared about me, I had known he wanted me to be happy, but the depth of emotion in his voice and his words surprise me, render me speechless.

"You said you loved me." He whispers and I see tears in his eyes. "Was it true? Is it still true?"

I clench my teeth, but I nod. I can't bear to lie to him when he is so honest, seems to be so vulnerable. I'm not used to seeing him like that.

"Was that a yes to the first AND the second question… or just the first?" He asks hoarsely.

"To both." I whisper.

"You love me?" He asks, cautiously. I nod hesitantly.

He heaves a sigh. "And I love you, Bones. I love you so much. I want to wake up to the sound of your voice every day, not just when I'm on the verge of dying." I watch him swallow, watch his throat work. "Why…. Why did you never mention it again, why?"

"Why didn't you?" I say defensively.

"I thought you didn't trust me to be there for you. But now you said you do." He whispers.

"I don't want to get hurt. And… I don't want you to get hurt." I confess after a moment of silence.

"But not being with you hurts the most." He says and I feel him grip my hand a little harder and there is such naked pain in his eyes and in his voice …..it's overwhelming.

"Oh." I make. And is the exact moment understanding dawns on me. Keeping distance hurt us both. We are both unattached adults and there is a chance at being happy with each other. What kind of idiot would not take this chance? Obviously, me.

"I'm sorry." I tell him and I mean it. "I thought it would be safer…."

"Sometimes you really think too much, Temperance." He says and smiles. Then he simply closes the distance between us and kisses me. It's a very gentle kiss, not heated or sexual, but loving and passionate all the same.

I had never been able to distinguish something like that before, but this kiss was definitely different from any other kiss I had ever been given before.

He pulls back and searches my eyes.

"I love you" We say at the same time, both our voices mingling. The words, spoken in unison, cause us to chuckle, but my bruised ribs protest and I have to lean back, trying not to take too deep breaths.

"Don't forget it." Booth whispers. "Now sleep, you've got to be tired. I'll be here."

I just nod wordlessly. After all I'm really exhausted and the knowledge he was going to be there gave me safety, reassurance. I close my eyes, and on the verge of drifting off to sleep, my conscious mind picks up on his whispered words.

"I'm never going to leave you."

He wouldn't… and I knew it.

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Soooooo, what do you say, do you like it? I really hope so. I guess most of you thought this would be continued in Booth's POV. But I wanted to show both sides.

Reviews would be awesome.


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